THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 61 



Mr. Millard tells me it is common near Bombay. Mr. Henderson 

 in a private letter says it is fairly common at Kodai Kanal in the 

 Pulneys. Father Gombert, S. J., in a private letter makes the 

 same remark with regard to the Pulneys. Stoliczka* says it is 

 very common in the south portion of the Kulu Valley. I have 

 found it common at Trichinopoly and Cannanore, and Fergusonf 

 says it is common in the low country at Travancore. TennentJ 

 says that at Trincomalee, Ceylon, in 1858, the Judge's house was 

 so infested with this species that his family had to quit their 

 quarters, and Bassett Smith§ also remarks on the number of this 

 species in the same place. Evans and I found it common in most 

 parts of Burmah, and in certain parts of that Province it is so 

 numerous that the natives wear grass shoes made with " uppers " 

 when busy in the crops as a protection against this snake, notably 

 at Mahlaing, Magwe, and Myo-thit in Upper Burmah. Theobald^ 

 remarks on the commonness of the species in the Tharrawaddy 

 District in Lower Burmah, and above Rangoon. On the other 

 hand, Nicholson|| shows it is uncommon in the vicinity of Banga- 

 lore, where only 2 were brought in for Government rewards out of 

 1,225 poisonous snakes in the year 1873. Again Murray** says 

 it is not common in Upper Sind. Blanfordff makes the same 

 remark of S.-E. Berar, and Mr. Miller writes me it is rare about 

 Darjeeling. He has only known one, viz., at Kurseong, 4,600 

 feet, in many years. 



Poison. — Frequently fatal to man (see Part II, page 99 et. seq.) 

 Dimsnsions . — Grows to 5-| feet, but specimens over 5 feet are 

 very exceptional. 



Colour. — Buff, or light brown with 3 longitudinal series of large 

 spots along the back. These usually consist of three zones, a 

 central one of the same colour as the ground, a narrow dark zone, 

 skirted by a still narrower white or buff zone. Some of these 

 spots in the median series often confluent. The spots in the 

 lateral rows are often broken at their lowermost outline. Head 

 ornamented with large dark marks, and a conspicuous pink or 

 salmon V with its apex on the snout. Belly whitish with dark 

 semilunar scattered spots. 



« Jourl., Asiatic Soc of Bengal, Vol. XXXIX, p. 226. 

 t Jourl., Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. X, p. 8. | Nat. Hist, of Ceylon, p. 296. 

 § Jourl., Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc, Yol. XI, p. 546. 

 t Cat- Kept., Brit. Burm., p. 64. 



II Ind. Snakes, p. 173. •• The Kept, of Sind, p. 66. 



tt Jourl.. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XXXIX, p. 374. 



